Under the Sun, February 2023

CLIMATE IMPACT WORKING TOWARDS A TRULY JUST, HEALTHY AND PEACEFUL WORLD

Responding across the Communion

BY THE REV. CANON RACHEL CARNEGIE Executive Director, Anglican Alliance

The Anglican Alliance was conceived at the 2008 Lambeth Conference as a platform to connect, equip and inspire the churches and agencies of the Communion in development, relief and advocacy. As a founding member, PWRDF has been central to that journey.

FROM DROUGHT TO FLOOD

Coping with climate-related emergencies

BY JANICE BIEHN Communications & Marketing Coordinator, PWRDF

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the past eight years are on track to be the warmest on record. This has led to unprecedented incidents of floods, heatwaves and drought around the world. In Kenya, the drought is the worst it has been in 70 years. The impact on food security is devastating.

In late June 2022, the Humanitarian Coalition (HC) – comprising 12 leading aid agencies in Canada – launched an appeal with matching funding up to $5 million from the Government of Canada to respond to the hunger emergency unfolding around the world, including in many sub-Saharan African countries. The goal was to raise funds to assist people on the edge of famine.

The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a member of the HC and PWRDF, as a member of the Foodgrains Bank, was therefore eligible to participate in the matching program. Donors quickly responded, giving $99,651 to PWRDF during the matching period.

PWRDF was selected by HC and the Foodgrains Bank to oversee one of the resulting projects. With a total budget of $1,392,560, PWRDF is working with Church World Service (CWS) Kenya to deliver a food assistance project in North Horr Sub-County, Marsabit County, Kenya. The funds include a contribution of

designated equity by other Foodgrains Bank members and a match from the Foodgrains Bank’s general account. This is on the heels of a similar project in 2021 that was implemented in Tana River County targeting 3,000 households.

Marsabit is one of the worst affected counties to be hit by the current drought facing the Horn of Africa. It is estimated that close to 95% of the population is experiencing food insecurity, with 30% of the population facing emergency food insecurity levels.

Working with community advisory committees, CWS Kenya provided four in-kind food transfers to 4,000 of the most vulnerable households (an estimated 22,000 individuals) in Turbi and Maikona ward. Each household received a monthly ration of 50 kg maize flour, 10 kg beans, 3 L vegetable oil and 500 g of salt. More than 1,700 households with pregnant and lactating women and children under five also received 5 kg of corn soy blend

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One area of collaboration with PWRDF is on disaster response and resilience.

A key role of the Alliance is to connect with dioceses in any part of the Anglican Communion facing humanitarian crises. As integral parts of their communities, churches are often first responders in a disaster, mobilizing their resources to care for those affected. Working closely with agencies such as PWRDF, the Alliance reaches out to offer solidarity, prayer and support.

Building Resilience

As well as responding after disasters, the Anglican Alliance is working with agencies to help build the capacity of dioceses and provinces to prepare for and manage disasters and mitigate their impact.

(CSB) to prevent acute malnutrition.

The CSB is critical to prevent malnutrition, says Mary Obiero, Director of CWS Kenya. Staff from CWS Kenya interviewed families during a food distribution. Nashangai Kongoman said some of her neighbour’s children nearly died from starvation. “They were terribly malnourished. … Now that we have received the food rations we will use them sparingly until we get another donation.”

The first food distribution happened in September 2022 and families reported relief and gratitude upon receiving the food. Kongoman invited the videographer into her home as she returned from the food distribution centre and prepared a pot of cornmeal for her children. She added vegetable oil to the water for additional sustenance, and carefully tipped the flour into the pot. After a few minutes of stirring, Kongoman served the ugali to her hungry children.

Obiero notes the creativity and generosity of people like Kongoman, who don’t hesitate to share what resources they have. “But the situation is getting worse as we move forward.”

“We can’t prevent disasters, but we can increase our resilience to them,” says Dr. Janice Proud, Disaster Response and Resilience Manager with the Anglican Alliance. “Being prepared for an emergency, knowing how to respond and having resilience all make a huge difference to how a community copes with a disaster and emerges from it. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it became clear that communities already engaged in building resilience were better able to respond and less impacted by the shocks it created.”

Partners in Resilience and Response (PiRR) is an initiative to help churches build their resilience and capacity for disaster preparation and response. It draws on – and shares – the learning of Anglicans across the Communion.

PiRR has two components, the Resilience Course and Accompaniers. The Resilience Course covers topics such as climate resilience, coping with trauma, women in humanitarian responses, targeting marginalized populations, safeguarding, networking and self-care. Accompaniers are people equipped and deployed to help the local church in its resilience building and disaster response.

Building resilience is vital, but not enough. There are shocks that even the most resilient communities are unable to withstand. The Anglican Alliance also works with the Anglican United Nations Office and other partners to advocate for justice in climate finance, including a facility for loss and damage due to climate change.

this QR code to meet Nashangai Kongoman at the food distribution.

PWRDF RESPONDS TO CLIMATE DISASTERS

Scan this QR code to see scenes from the Church of Pakistan food distibution.

FLOODING IN PAKISTAN

In mid-June 2022, heavy monsoon rains and flooding began pouring down on Pakistan, killing more than 1,300 people and affecting the lives of 33 million across the country. More than 6 million people were estimated to need assistance. Livelihoods, livestock and crops were also severely affected. More than 1.1 million houses have been damaged and more than 765,000 houses have been destroyed across the country. Approximately 22,000 schools have reportedly been damaged, mainly in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and in Punjab, and more than 5,500 undamaged schools are reportedly being used to shelter people who have been displaced.

In August, PWRDF allocated an emergency grant of $30,000 to support a Canadian Foodgrains Bank project in Sindh province, the area most affected by flooding. It was managed by Presbyterian World Service & Development, with Community World Service Asia working on the ground.

In September, as the rain and flooding continued, so did the needs in Pakistan. The Humanitarian Coalition, comprising 12 leading Canadian humanitarian organizations, launched an appeal with a match from the Government of Canada. PWRDF donations were matched through our membership in the Foodgrains Bank, which is a member of the HC. Our funds of $84,284 supported the Foodgrains Bank’s total contribution of $640,000. With all its members, the HC raised $7.5 million.

In November, PWRDF contributed $20,000 to a flood response in Pakistan with three other Anglican agencies: Episcopal Relief and Development in the U.S., Anglican Board of Mission in Australia (both fellow members of the Anglican

TROPICAL STORM JULIA IN GUATEMALA

(Top) Bishop Azad Marshall, Primate of the Church of Pakistan, distributes food to flood survivors as part of an Anglican Alliance response. (Above) Volunteers pack food and other supplies.

Alliance), and the U.K.-based United Society Partners in the Gospel. The contributions total approximately $66,000.

This project responded to the emergency relief appeal of the Church of Pakistan to assist the flood affected communities in Punjab Province. The Church of Pakistan provided food and water to 500 households in five villages of Fazilpur area in Rajanpur district of Punjab province. It also supplied tents and tarpaulins, hygiene kits and awareness services, jerry cans and support for people with disabilities, orphans and separated children. The Church of Pakistan is working with the local government agencies, community-based organizations and the affected communities to prioritize and coordinate the response on the ground.

were affected, and 20 roads and 49 bridges were destroyed.

O

n October 9, 2022, Hurricane Julia made landfall in Nicaragua. The next day it hit Guatemala as a tropical storm, with relentless rainfall causing serious damage, particularly in the regions of Petén, Izabal, Alta Verapaz, Quiché, and the north of Occidente.

According to the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (CONRED), 59,571 people were evacuated because their homes were at risk of being destroyed. The agency reported that 1,557 houses had severe damage, 1,137 roads and 222 bridges

Soon after the storm, PWRDF responded with an emergency grant of $25,000. Besides the damage to critical infrastructure described above, the storm caused deaths and destruction of livelihoods of many households that were already vulnerable to natural hazards such as floods. PWRDF has a long history with two women’s organizations in Guatemala, Ixmucane and Madre Tierra. Communities where members of Madre Tierra live and work, such as Conrado de la Cruz, Monseñor Romero, Monte Gloria, Willy Wood, Santa Cruz Laredo, Santa Rita y Lupita, all in the municipality of Santo Domingo Suchitepéquez, were severely affected.

Over years of partnership, Madre Tierra has grown into a strong and vital

network and it is well established in the affected communities. This prompted the local government to turn to Madre Tierra to coordinate the relief efforts. The women designed, implemented and monitored the response at the grassroots level.

With the PWRDF relief grant, Madre Tierra worked with 160 of the worst affected households who were vulnerable even prior to the storm and whose situations were made worse.

These households included widows, people with disabilities and others who are socio-economically marginalized. They were supported with basic food rations including corn, beans, cooking oil and flour for three months. This relief grant allowed them to remain in their communities, look after their families and farms, and rebuild their livelihoods.

COOLING THE PLANET IN ZIMBABWE

BY RICHARD LIBROCK PWRDF Funding Manager

In the Chimanimani mountains of Zimbabwe, PWRDF partner TSURO Trust collaborates with local farmers to adapt to climate change and meet their families’ basic needs through agro-ecology.

Though we have always known how vital water is to our health, less well known is that water has always cooled our planet. Cooling the planet is now more important than ever because global warming is increasing the frequency, intensity and duration of climate events, spanning from higher temperatures, drought and wildfires, to storms, floods, rising sea levels and hurricanes. Such hazards damage the ecosystems on which we and other species depend.

TSURO’s first principal is to sink the raindrop where it falls. When that can’t be done by solely increasing the ground cover, other techniques can be used:

• Digging infiltration pits and building small gabions (rock walls) that allow the water to infiltrate through the soil slowly, through gravity or osmosis;

• Building tall rock gabions that slow down runoff;

• Constructing stone bunds (retaining walls) on contours, slowing down, infiltrating and spreading water through the soil.

Benefits of Planned Grazing

Communities in 14 wards have benefited over the years from amalgamating many small herds of cattle into one large community herd and practising planned grazing. The practice effectively ended child labour, so boys today now attend school instead of herding livestock. Women now have the choice to be paid as community herders, or to engage in other income generating activities instead of herding the small family herd, unpaid. It also has made it easier for women to be owners of cattle when they are managed as one large community herd.

Rotating one large herd in communal areas gives the grass sufficient time to

IN-CANADA EMERGENCIES:

WHERE AND WHEN DOES PWRDF RESPOND?

It would be impossible for PWRDF to respond to all domestic emergencies. Several factors are taken into account when disaster strikes: the severity and impact of the emergency, the presence of other agencies responding including the government, the extent to which additional support is needed, the time and abilities of the diocese to engage in an emergency response and PWRDF’s available resources. PWRDF makes every effort to avoid offering services that are being offered elsewhere, and to increase effectiveness so that we can all work together to be the best stewards of the resources entrusted to us.

BE READY!

recover and grow again after being grazed, just as vast migrations of wildebeest and other ruminants once followed the rains and were kept moving by pack-hunting predators such as lions. Herders today keep cattle bunched and moving to graze and trample grass, leaving mulch, dung and urine to stimulate the growth of new shoots of grass in the rainy season.

Keeping Carbon in the Soil

It is vital in seasonal rainfall environments of sub-Saharan Africa to minimize the oxidization of mature grass in the dry season. At this time of year, grass transforms from green to yellow, until finally grey and dead. Grass – made up of cellulose,

Dioceses in areas that are particularly prone to climate-related disasters can follow PWRDF’s step-by-step emergency preparedness plan:

1. Appoint a diocesan emergency preparedness point person to set up and chair a small Emergency Preparedness Diocesan Committee.

2. Identify the types of emergencies/disasters that have affected your region in the recent past.

3. Research the Disaster Preparedness Plans for your region, city or town from City Hall, the local Red Cross, fire stations, and other faithbased and secular agencies.

4. Identify church members who may already have been trained in disaster preparedness and response.

5. Identify training and workshop opportunities that may be available.

6. Invite speakers to parish and diocesan events to speak about emergency disaster preparedness in your region.

7. Distribute a “Who to Call” list to parishes in your diocese.

which is carbon – is oxidized and released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Worse is when grass is burned, because carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are released even more quickly. Far more ecological is for grass to be grazed by ruminants and deposited on the soil as dung where a host of micro and macroorganisms such as dung beetles can bury and sequester stable soil carbon (humus and glomalin) into the soil.

This allows roots to penetrate more deeply. Every gram of carbon sequestered into the soil can hold between 8 to 20 grams of water. This is because 66% of healthy soil is just air, pockets of space between soil particles that allow for raindrops to sink where they fall, and slowly release to roots when needed. The slow release allows for a longer growing season and draws more carbon dioxide into the soil. This in turn increases productivity and resilience of the grass and ultimately the health of the cattle.

Decreasing oxidation and increasing soil carbon is both the challenge and the opportunity for cattle owners and herders in Chimanimani district. To make the water cycle more effective, they will try to grow two blades of grass where before there was only one, for as long as possible after the rainy season has ended.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Suggested services that dioceses and parishes may offer for relief and recovery response:

• Distribute relief items such as food, water, hygiene kits, gas, clothing, etc.

• Provide a place of refuge from extreme cold, heat waves and storms.

• Provide a gathering place and emergency services such as washrooms and charging stations.

• Lead prayers, offer emotional support.

• Invite professionals experienced in counselling post-emergency/disaster survivors to speak in parishes or other gatherings.

• Organize post-traumatic workshops/ sessions for families and communities.

• Co-fund summer camps for children from communities affected by the emergency/disaster with other faith-based organizations.

• Co-organize and co-fund gatherings that target community recovery.

Diocesan Representative and

The heat that naturally radiates from the Earth’s surface back into space is increasingly becoming trapped in our atmosphere by greenhouse gases. The solution is to either remove the greenhouse gases or to reduce the heat that is re-radiated. Just 4% more vegetation would radiate 80-90% of the heat back into space.

Contact your

learn how PWRDF can help your diocese prepare for a disaster. To apply for emergency funds, contact Naba Gurung at PWRDF.

BY CHRISTINE HILLS PWRDF Public Engagement Officer

COMMUNITY SHINES FOR UKRAINE

Volunteers at St. Mark’s Church in Qualicum Beach, B.C. cheered when they totalled up the contributions made on their Day of Giving to Ukraine held on September 9. “In two hours, from 10 in the morning until noon, we collected $6,500,” said Ven. Elizabeth Northcott, priest at St. Mark’s. People also came from the farmer’s market and the neighbourhood and from other organizations to give to PWRDF’s Ukrainian appeal. Additional donations from St. Mark’s congregation and others boosted their total to more than $12,000. “Canadians have their own economic woes,” according to Northcott, “but Qualicum Beach stands ready to come to the aid of the people of Ukraine.”

WALKING FOR UKRAINE

After a parishioner asked what the church’s plans were to help the people of Ukraine, Holy Spirit Anglican Church in east Maple Ridge B.C., organized a walkathon at Rolley Lake Provincial Park on Saturday, September 17. Their objective was to raise money for families displaced by the war in Ukraine. To date they have raised $4,825 which will be going to PWRDF. Another parishioner matched the donations with an additonal $2,000. “We are a little church with a big heart,” said Rev. Miranda Sutherland, adding how thankful she is to all the donors and participants who raised funds and walked for “this worthy cause.”

CLIMATE CHANGE RESOURCES

The second year of our Creation Care: Climate Action Education Focus is centred on gender and climate change. The first module features a video conversation between Canadian sheep farmer Karri Munn-Venn and PWRDF partner Josephine Kizza Aliddeki of St. Jude Family Projects, Uganda. The second learning module focuses on the relationship between violence against women and climate change. Access these modules at pwrdf.org/climate-change-and-gender

And don’t miss the November episode of the Youth Council’s ajustgeneration podcast featuring Mandy Marshall, Director for Gender Justice in the Anglican Communion Office. Marshall explores the intersection between climate justice and gender justice with Jessica Steele and Clare Urquhart. Scan the code to listen.

DIGGING DEEP FOR A WELL

Trinity-All Saints Anglican Church in Bala celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 2021, one year late because of COVID. The Anglican Church Women (ACW) decided to take on a meaningful project to recognize the anniversary and chose to raise funds to build a shallow well with a hand pump in Kenya. Because their fundraising activities have been curtailed for two years, they decided to fund the project with half of the funds coming from the ladies’ personal donations and the other half coming from ACW funds. The $1,200 will be used to build the well and provide clean water for a rural community in Kenya to improve the health of the community.

PUMPKINS FOR PWRDF!

The Holy Trinity Pembroke Sunday School held their annual Halloween Pumpkin Auction in support of PWRDF on October 30. The children scoured the PWRDF World of Gifts guide and found all of the neat partnerships they will be supporting and then they got to work. They carved 12 pumpkins, and a bonus quilted hanging was also donated. The final amount raised by the Sunday school was $560!

LENT LUNCH MOVES TO TAKEOUT

In her role as PWRDF representative for the Anglican Parish of South Queens Liverpool in Nova Scotia, Pamela Oliver has organized Lent lunches for the last three decades. Then COVID struck. After her presentation to the parish in early March 2022, two parishioners approached Pamela. It was the week after the war in Ukraine started and they wanted to act. Together they organized two fundraisers and a financial campaign. One fundraiser was a Lent lunch with two take-out options on the menu –Hamburg Soup and an Asian meal. The lunch raised more than $5,700.

PWRDF wants to hear from you!